When can I dispose of a bike?

Person_one

Malthusian wrote: »

Someone steals a bike, joy-cycles into a random residential area, abandons it and... what, walks home or takes a taxi?

Or steals another, or even a car, yes! Its quite common in some areas. Usually teenagers rather than more professional thieves looking for something to sell on.

Why on earth would somebody dump their own bike on the pavement, light still on?

Malthusian

Rawhammer wrote: »

plop it on ebay for £50

A highly optimistic price for a bike that has most likely been abandoned due to its poor condition, unless it is a very good model (and as the OP hasn't mentioned anything about it being valuable and it's a child size, that seems unlikely).

Plus the OP has already failed to give it away because the recipient was afraid the owner would find him and accuse him of theft.

I wouldn't bother selling any kind of device worth less than £50 on eBay because it's not worth the risk of something going wrong and the buyer holding me liable. The OP would also have to go through the rigmarole of taking it to lost property and then claiming it back when no-one else did, or they'd be selling stolen goods.

Malthusian

Person_one wrote: »

Or steals another, or even a car, yes! Its quite common in some areas. Usually teenagers rather than more professional thieves looking for something to sell on.

That's a plausible explanation. I would have thought the OP would have mentioned it if someone had hot-wired and nicked a car from their street at the same time the bike appeared though.

Why on earth would somebody dump their own bike on the pavement, light still on?

Two people in this thread have already told you, they don't want it anymore.

The bent chain mechanism backs that up. Cheap bikes (and most bikes for children and teenagers are cheap) are not built to last. The cost of fixing it may be less than the cost of getting a new one. Or the teenage owner may have out-grown it.

The OP doesn't say how bad the issue was (whether the wheel's completely locked up or just harder to pedal) but if it's unrideable that's another mark against the theft argument - you wouldn't joyride an unrideable bike.

Technically it may be fly-tipping but when you know it will disappear within a matter of days (unlike a smelly mattress) it's a virtually victimless crime.

The lights were most likely on because the rider forgot or didn't care. I've done it many times - you get off the bike, walk forwards and don't see that the back light is still on.

Person_one

Malthusian wrote: »

That's a plausible explanation. I would have thought the OP would have mentioned it if someone had hot-wired and nicked a car from their street at the same time the bike appeared though.

Two people in this thread have already told you, they don't want it anymore.

The bent chain mechanism backs that up. Cheap bikes (and most bikes for children and teenagers are cheap) are not built to last. The cost of fixing it may be less than the cost of getting a new one. Or the teenage owner may have out-grown it.

The OP doesn't say how bad the issue was (whether the wheel's completely locked up or just harder to pedal) but if it's unrideable that's another mark against the theft argument - you wouldn't joyride an unrideable bike.

Technically it may be fly-tipping but when you know it will disappear within a matter of days (unlike a smelly mattress) it's a virtually victimless crime.

The lights were most likely on because the rider forgot or didn't care. I've done it many times - you get off the bike, walk forwards and don't see that the back light is still on.

The OP said it wasn't a cheap bike and was otherwise in good condition.

I've never seen an abandoned bike lying on the pavement like this, I have known a lot of people who've had them stolen and then they've been found dumped.

Malthusian

Ah, missed that, I stand corrected.

It may well be in worse condition than the OP thinks. The last bike I got rid of would have looked fine to an outsider except that - like his - the back wheel didn't turn due to a failed theft attempt. However, on top of that the front fork was bent to a degree that made it unsafe to ride, and that was unfixable (confirmed by the bike shop). It was a write-off. By another coincidence (almost eerie), that was a £300+ bike as well.

I have just seen another post I missed which says that the bike can't even be pushed because the back wheel doesn't turn. So joyriding sounds very unlikely to me.

I've seen plenty of bikes abandoned like this but that's because I use a communal bike shed which always has one or two unlocked and leaning against the walls.

Whether the original owner or a thief abandoned it it seems unlikely that the owner is still looking for it.

Person_one

Malthusian wrote: »

Whether the original owner or a thief abandoned it it seems unlikely that the owner is still looking for it.

However unlikely you might think it is, its not for the OP to make that decision. It needs to be reported.

Savvy_Sue

As it happens, I had to get a crime reference number for a nicked phone today. I was able to do this by reporting its loss online (through our police force website), and then they phoned me to check a couple of things and gave me a crime reference number. You can do this even if you don't know who the 'victim' is - or even if you don't know it's stolen. At least, I'm assuming all forces have the same or very similar options.

Person_one

Did you get through to 101 or one of the other non-emergency numbers OP?

swingaloo

No I didnt get through, stayed on the line for 4 and a half minutes and this time did not even get an answering machine.

Ive now found website for the community Policing Team with a form you can fill out and email to them so I have done that.

Person_one

How strange, I've never had any problem at all getting through to 101 straightaway.